Orihuela has now confirmed that it will increase the garbage tax in compliance with Law 7/2022, of April 8, on waste and contaminated soil, which requires that the tax fully finance the cost of the service. It is an unpopular measure that will more than double the rate currently being paid. The Local Government Board took the first step yesterday with its approval so all that now remains is for it to go through the Plenary for its final approval. The plan will come into force in 2025.
The current charge, according to the Council, only covers 34.86% of the service costs, which shows a deficit contrary to what is stipulated in the law 7/2022. The total annual cost of the service in Orihuela amounts to 18,763,987.30 euros.
The government says that it has decided to go further and cover with this increase measures to improve the service.
According to the executive, this will give the City Council the capacity to invest more than three million euros annually over the next six years. This money, they say, will go towards staff costs, current expenses and investments.
These efforts aim to comply with the requirements of the law and to “optimise” the waste management system in the municipality, leading to better collection at source.
The law new law also seeks to ensure that those municipalities that recycle the most will be pay the least for their service.
The City Council, which is also obliged to implement new brown containers for the collection of organic waste, says that it will address “new systems of separate collection for waste fractions under local jurisdiction, progressively incorporating mechanisms that consider the quantity of waste generated by each taxpayer.”
In contrast to what was proposed in the first draft, each taxpayer, regardless of whether they are on the coast or in the urban area, will now pay 0.55 euros per day. The new ordinance, in addition, will also consider reductions for families.
